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Setting Priorities for Biodiversity Conservation in Puerto Rico

• Location: Puerto Rico
• Project Area: ~ 2.2 million acres (~ 890,308 hectares)
• Client: The Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico (Fideicomíso Puertorriqueña de Conservación)
• Partner Organizations: The International Institute for Tropical Forestry, the Natural Heritage Program of Puerto Rico (Patrimonio Natural de Puerto Rico), Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (Departamento de Recursos Naturales y Ambientales de Puerto Rico), and The Nature Conservancy
• Time Frame: January 2004 — September 2007

Project Purpose

The intent of this project was to identify priority areas for biodiversity conservation throughout Puerto Rico.

Project Summary

In 2004 NatureServe was contracted by the Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico (the Trust) to demonstrate a range of analyses available for conservation priority-setting with existing data. That Phase 1&2 effort (see Phase 1 Report) focused mainly on Commonwealth-wide assessment and identification of lands and waters where biodiversity conservation should be emphasized. This effort intended to set the stage for subsequent data development and analyses to integrate decision making from regional to local scales and across multiple conservation themes (e.g., biodiversity, ecosystem services, cultural values, scenic values, etc.). That effort concluded with a demonstration of how the data and expert knowledge could be input to a new decision support software called NatureServe Vista (Vista). It was concluded that this software could allow the Trust and its partners to conduct a great deal of conservation analyses and planning in a cooperative partnership. In July 2006, NatureServe was asked to conduct a limited Phase 3 effort that would accomplish the following objectives:

1. Support ongoing development of the Biodiversity Conservation Initiative;
2. Conduct conservation prioritization and analysis relative to the new national land use plan being developed by the Planning Board of Puerto Rico and deliver the results in a NatureServe Vista database and project.

Outcomes / Conservation Impact

Project outcomes are still in development. The database with NatureServe Vista was provided to the client and they are applying it to their internal decision making. The new national land use plan has been deferred until after the November 2008 election cycle, after which the client hopes to renew work to establish a “Biodiversity Conservation Initiative” and broad partnership for implementation.